The Centre has expressed that it is keen on going ahead with the four labour codes (passed in Parliment last year) in the next few months. The labour ministry had envisaged that the codes on wages, social security, occupational safety, would be implemented from April 21st, 2021 onwards.
2. States Yet to Notify Rules
The ministry even finalised the rules under the four labour codes, however states were not in a position to implement the same, as they were unable to notify the rules under the codes in their jurisdiction. It is under the constitution, that for labour laws, both Centre and the states must notify rules for implementation of the the concerned policy in their jurisdiction, before implementation.
Many states are in the process of finalising the rules under the codes. However the Centre doesn’t plan to wait for long, and is planning on implementing the codes sometime in the next few months. States such as Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana,Odisha, Punjab, Gujarat, and Karnataka have already circulated the draft rules for implementation. The labour codes, among other changes, plan to reduce take-home wages, by increasing the provident fund liability of companies.
Under the wages code, allowances will be capped at 50% of the total pay. This means take home wages will be only 50%. The PF will be fixed at 50% of the gross pay including basic pay and dearness allowance, resulting in reduced take home wages of employees.
